When it's math, not music...

[MrLenny1]

I freelance and put notes on my set list which is on the floor. It helps.
Some tunes are ridiculous so on some of them I memorize the words
to parts of the chorus or verses and turnarounds.

 

[Alexis Duntov]

It drives me nuts, and all the fun gets sucked right out of it.

Playing in a new band, doing covers I never did before. They're songs that even someone playing bass for three days could execute, yet remembering the arrangement is like playing Achilles Last Stand. Only without any of the fun.

I have to play Crazy in Love next Friday, along with about 10 other brand new songs - and I know of no other way to get it down than to use cheat notes. I don't like using cheat notes, and only do it when absolutely necessary.

How do you guys get this stuff together? Is there a trick? Drummer and other guys in the band suck at cues. They're all in their own world - so they ain't happening.

If you don't know wut I'm talking about, have a listen to the arrangement on this. Only 2 parts. A & B. 3 notes. But it goes A3x, B2x, A1x, B4x, A4x, B6x, A5x... and on and on, with no logic or reason.... argh.

The asymmetry that you noted is one of the things that make this a good song. As someone else noted ABAB for 4 minutes would get boring. I know you are not debating the merits of the song but asking how others remember stuff like this. You just do it. Use your ear and use the lyrics as cues. I once had to learn Ring of Fire and that thing also has only two parts but some very bizarre counting.

 

[Ffreddy]

Just keep your amp on standby and pretend you are nailing it.

 

[fishdreams]

I sit down with a piece of music paper, put on a set of head phones and make a note-for-note transcription. It forces me to really listen without prejudice, and often the part turns out to be much more fun than I thought. Also, on that song half the fun would be kicking in the octaver and maybe a filter, in order to match the tone on the record.

 

[bassdude51]

Some songs seem like they are written on a computer, mixed with individual recordings, and never meant to be performed by a live band. Just play ABABAB? I can't.

This statement is so GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! By God, you are absolutely CORRECT!

 

[Russell L]

I'll read charts if I need them. If the band doesn't like it, I'll go play with somebody else.

Quoting myself here. That sounds bad, but at age 67 it gets harder to remember so much. I'll admit, though, that with some songs I have been able to ditch the chart by just intensely listening over and over until I get a mental picture of the form. Sometimes I even get a mental picture of the chart itself. But I haven't had any real problems with bands not allowing charts onstage except one. But they let the horns read, so I had a good case for allowing me to as well.

 

[bassdude51]

Most of today's music is sooooooooooooooooooo bad that I'd rather not waste my time trying to figure out or play the bass line (which is probably a bass synth loop).

I'd rather listen to this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Than most of today's music. Music?

 

[HeavyJazz]

Then there's the Black Page as written by Zappa and handed down to Bozzio. Music? Nah. Call it a test of proficiency. ...Or hazing.

 

[okcrum]

Sounds like time for a tablet clipped to the mic stand.

 

[darwin-bass]

I see two approaches.

1. Learn the lyrics and associate the changes with the lyrics.
2. Chart it out in whatever detail you need and count, count, count.

Given the short time you may need to take approach 2. I personally find the 2nd approach to be very uninspiring and hard to maintain through a song as I get distracted by the rest of the music around me and lose my place. For me the first approach is natural.

 

[JRA]

i feel for you! both of my bands use charts/stands: the singers (in the vocal band) use tablets for lyrics = no one (including the buyer!) is offended. good luck and sorry to hear of your frustration.

 

[darwin-bass]

...People like familiar, what can you do?
I tried learning some Justin Timberlake for my wife, since she is a big fan of his. The lines were almost the same from song to song. If you jazz them up, you can add more ghost notes, or walking transitions, but for the most part it was three notes and a similar pattern. Pretty boring stuff.

Music is SO MUCH MORE than just a chord progression. Songs with the same progression can sound very, very different.

It is true that the bass player may have a different perspective because what we do is heavily driven by the rhythm (rock) and the chords (same, same, same) but remember that music is SO MUCH MORE than the bass line

 

[lz4005]

You just do it. Use your ear and use the lyrics as cues.

Exactly. You have to just know what the song sounds like and play it. Don't try to count it.

The irony here is that OP's problem is the exact opposite of what he thinks it is. At least according to the thread title. He wants the song to be math. Math is predictable, countable, repetitive formulae. This song isn't math. And that's why he's having problems learning it.

 

[jamro217]

I know this is the ultimate insult to some musicians, but occasionally you find yourself in a situation where your bass line isn't as important to the song as the bass drum is. If you're having trouble finding the bass part (if there actually is one in that song), Joe, just crank up the sub lows, back off the treble and use a series of staccato notes in time with the bass drum. No one will ever know. Hope this helps. I've had to use this particular form of subterfuge more than once, and it hasn't let me down yet.

 

[Alexis Duntov]

Exactly. You have to just know what the song sounds like and play it. Don't try to count it.

The irony here is that OP's problem is the exact opposite of what he thinks it is. At least according to the thread title. He wants the song to be math. Math is predictable, countable, repetitive formulae. This song isn't math. And that's why he's having problems learning it.

But he's not having trouble learning it! He notated the structure correctly. That's half the battle.

 

[And I]

If you're in a situation where you can hear the vocalist well, I try to learn which lyrics come just before the changes so you have a human cheat sheet with a microphone giving you the answers as you go.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Playing in a new band, doing covers I never did before. They're songs that even someone playing bass for three days could execute, yet remembering the arrangement is like playing Achilles Last Stand. Only without any of the fun....

...If you don't know wut I'm talking about, have a listen to the arrangement on this. Only 2 parts. A & B. 3 notes. But it goes A3x, B2x, A1x, B4x, A4x, B6x, A5x... and on and on, with no logic or reason.... argh.

This is one of the reasons I couldn't stand doing P&W music at churches, a lot of it was so repetitive and similar that it made the basslines "unmemorable" and therefore a pain to do without chord sheets or sheet music. From time to time there was some that stood out, but according to the BL a lot of the actual recordings "overplayed" and so he wanted straight 8ths on many songs. Couple that with him changing keys practically every night and it was enough to make me and the rest of the band quit.

I feel you on the mind mush of unmemorable basslines...give me a busy Jamerson or Duck Dunn bassline any day over that. I'd rather something agile and memorable than simple and focus-numbing.

 

[Thumb n Fingers]

Sounds like time for a tablet clipped to the mic stand.

In one of the bands I frequently sub with, they have gone a step further. They have a 42" TV fed from a pad to project the changes/lyrics to the screen. The TV is stood up at an angle in the center of the performing area on the floor and mostly concealed by monitors. Makes life really easy. Also let's them fumble through requests at a passable level. First time I saw this, I thought it was absurd. After subbing a few times, I've become rather fond of the ingenuity of this. It's like karaoke with a band now. Not that it's really practical or anything...just kinda, well, humorous.

 

[That Axe]

Just learn the original.

 

[RyanJD]

I must hear weird or not like you at all but what I hear with headphone is :

During the chorus :
B ( 8th note ) for one bar then A ( 8th note ) for one bar and goes back and forth

During the verse :
Punch B or A the first 8th note every bar

Far from math metal to me ... I thought at first we would talk about stuff like Meshugga or Ron Jarzombek ... you know polymeters and stupid stuff.

I think you emotion got the best of you because the song you posted is far from complex even for the bass.

I have to agree. This seems pretty straight-forward.
Just use @nutdog's chart if you're unsure...